November 2013 - A gang member cut a correctional officer three times on the neck and face, requiring 39 stitches, according to a police report. Bridges also questioned why Wall met with two gang members minutes before they attacked Cook. Hes a rookie at Lanesboro who is new to that job, still learning who to let in and who to keep out. One inmate warned Lanesboro prison officials that Latino gang members were armed with homemade knives and planning an attack. Investigators and lawyers believe a prison manager knew the attack was coming. / CBS/AP. But it was sometimes hard for prison officers to find those shanks, Parsons said. Angela Smith, who worked as an officer at Tabor Correctional Institution from 2010 to 2014, said she was often asked to work overtime because the prison was so understaffed. Turner, 35, had also been serving time for second-degree murder and was scheduled for release in 2017. "We've got a lot of folks who are not staying with us.". Located in Polkton, about 45 miles east of Charlotte, Lanesboro has repeatedly drawn. October 04, 1992. Shortly after 3 p.m., almost three hours after the attack, correctional officers lead Vazquez into a nurses office. Inmates often hid contraband in body cavities, Parsons said. One inmate dead, another injured in prison incident, Medical Marijuana bill passes NC Senate; some cannabis supporters against bill, 8-year-old helps raise money for favorite Waffle House worker in need of car, PLAN AHEAD: Latest Weather Forecast Video. Official websites use .gov He sued and won a $10,000 settlement from the state. Its the few who dont who make problems for everybody.. Soon afterward, the suspects were escorted into offices where they received medical treatment. Its clearly not a place where theyre learning to go the straight and narrow, he said. But, with the help of a source, the Observer obtained a prison surveillance video from the 2012 attack that killed inmate Wesley Turner, providing a rare glimpse into a prison murder. A prison officer and two inmates were injured during a fight at Lanesboro Correctional Institution Thursday morning, state prison officials said. Around 1:30 P.M., two groups got into a fight after a game of football; the fight quickly escalated into a prison riot that lasted three hours. Some family members believe that the murder may have been . They assert that releasing the videos could jeopardize prison security. He had 43. Authorities believe all three of the convicted inmates had homemade knives, commonly known as shanks. Police are asking anyone with information related to the Easley murder to contact them immediately. U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of North Carolina, FBI Arrests Corrections Officer For Smuggling A Controlled Substance At Lanesboro Correctional Institution, Former Catawba County Director Of Utilities Is Sentenced To Prison For Accepting Bribes, Former Catawba County Director Of Utilities Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud Conspiracy For Accepting Bribes, North Carolina State Legislator Pleads Guilty To Making A False Statement To A Bank. Statewide, about 16 percent of officer positions are vacant. Murder probe exposes more problems at Lanesboro prison, Former SC governor, Trump ally Nikki Haley coming to Myrtle Beach as she runs for president, Fort Mill just named its top teachers and staff members for 2023. The state has changed the prisons leadership several times in recent years. Prison officials considered that a clear threat to staff. It was especially heartbreaking for me to see you go in the media from being a grieving father who lost a wife and a son to being the person indicted and convicted of killing them, Judge Clifton Newman said to Alex Murdaugh Friday. Wesley Turnerwas stabbed to death and taken to Anson Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety. Wynn alleges that Parsons was willfully and deliberately indifferent to his safety, in violation of his Constitutional right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment. Brooke, James. Hands among the dead were found in front of the face or behind the head suggesting defensive positions. The massacre also gained international attention, with The New York Times, publishing one article titled "111 Killed When Police Storm Brazilian Prison During Inmate Riot" the same year as the massacre. He was found dead in his cell the following morning, a victim of coronary artery disease. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. [16] The group is believed to be responsible for the death of Jos Ismael Pedrosa, the director of the prison at the time. He was scheduled to stay in jail until 2017. According to Acree, the prison is temporarily locked down while an investigation begins. Lanesboro has a standard operating capacity of 864 close-custody male inmates, with 128 segregation cells and 8 health care beds. At 11:49 a.m., less than half an hour before the fatal fight begins, Wall walks into an office with an inmate. Lock In a court filing, Wall said he never facilitated attacks. A veteran SC attorney weighs in, Alex Murdaugh murder trial jury begins deliberations same day 1 juror is removed. The five men say they filed the lawsuit because of their time at Lanesboro Correctional Institution. Statewide, correctional officers received more than $12 million in overtime in 2015, the Observer found. In October, the prisons top administrator, David Mitchell, was injured after he was stabbed in the neck by an inmate wielding a plastic shank. No, I dont think he would have.. But Vazquez stabbed and killed Turner using another improvised weapon, a sharpened metal plate. Inmate Gregorio Cortez Vazquez pleaded guilty earlier this month to second-degree murder in Turners stabbing death and was sentenced to up 16 additional years in prison. Meggan Callahan was killed there allegedly by an inmate who beat her to death with a fire extinguisher. But in his first public comments about the hidden weapons, Wall said Lanesboros top administrator at the time Lawrence Parsons was unaware that he kept the weapons in his ceiling. State prison officials refused to say how many staff were on duty the day Callahan died. For the past nine years, Sapper has served as the operations manager for the Coastal Region, overseeing 12 prisons in eastern North Carolina. The other inmate who was injured is being treated for his injuries. Then shelter shared desperate plea, What to Watch Friday: Dateline and 20/20 update Murdaugh murder trial coverage, Mail carrier cant believe his eyes after seeing NC lottery win. Starting in November 2013, more than 800 inmates at the prison were put on lockdown for several months after an attack injured a corrections officer. By Ames Alexander - aalexander@charlotteobserver.com. Roberts and Jeremy Smith, the state-appointed lawyers who represented Vazquez, said they watched prison surveillance video taken on the day Turner was killed and learned the following: Around lunchtime on Sept. 28, 2012, Ortiz and Zelaya-Sorto, along with one or two inmates who were members of a gang called the United Blood Nation, were in an administrative office with Wall and an assistant unit manager. Bias Easley was a corrections officer at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, near Wadesboro. In a cell block inside one of the states most dangerous prisons, an inmate stabs a rival gang member over and over, 13 times. "I think if I hadn't gotten over there in time, (Mosley) probably would have cut her throat," McCoy said. Ortiz, the inmate charged in that stabbing, said his weapon was a plastic toilet bowl cleaner with a sharpened end. ANSONCOUNTY, N.C. -- A N.C. inmate has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that corrections officers at an Anson County prison cracked his skull with a baton . [7], The country was in major shock from the massacre. Ballistic evidence indicated that 515 bullets were found in the prisoners. An officer in a control room opened the door for them. Drive down U.S. 74 toward the beach and you may not realize its there. Prison surveillance video doesnt capture that meeting, so its unclear what they discussed. Suite 1650 Officers found Dwyer dead at 10:15. Walker said she cant discuss specifics, but the investigation was not related to the Turner case. August 2011 - Eighteen inmates assaulted staff members throughout the month. Staff researcher Maria David and David Raynor of The (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed. Wall said he put the shanks in the ceiling because he couldnt lock his desk drawer or file cabinet, his dismissal letter states. Zelaya-Sorto did reply to the Observer, but wrote only: Este caso esta serado This case is closed.. Lake Norman mansion for sale hosted famous Talladega Nights Hollywood dinner scene, Ex-high school coach accused of sex crimes against 6 more athletes, NC sheriff says. But some experts interviewed by the Observer said that's a possibility. Hodges was sentenced to two years in federal prison. The three wait outside Cooks cell block for more than a minute. He would not discuss the lawsuit or his testimony with an Observer reporter. The current capacity of Lanesboro Correctional Institution is 1,400 adult male inmates. Daniel Roberts, one of the lawyers, said at a sentencing hearing that the footage suggests prison officials may have sanctioned the attack or looked the other way. Opened in the town of Polkton in 2004, the state-run prison has for years been plagued by stabbings, smuggled contraband and allegations of wrongdoing by corrections officers. Palmetto man sentenced to life in prison after stabbing wife to death, faking intruder, He found a clam on a Florida beach to make some chowder. One former officer, who rushed to a colleague's defense after she was slashed in the neck by an inmate at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, said the attack might have been prevented with more staff. POLKTON, N.C. -- Authorities in North Carolina say two supervisors were stabbed and two correctional officers were assaulted with a broom handle in an attack at a state prison. But while North Carolina typically hires about 1,800 to 2,000 prison officers per year, it usually loses about that many as well. September 2012 - The stabbing death of inmate Wesley Turner spurred an SBI investigation and led to three felony convictions. Ortiz is scheduled to get out in 2019. [9] The gashes in the officer's face and neck required 39 stitches. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Often, observers say, officers let inmates visit and congregate in administrative offices. A corrections officer opened the door that allowed the three convicted inmates into an adjacent pod. The incident was reported around1:30 p.m. at theLanesboro Correctional Institution in Polkton. The commanding officer of the operation, Colonel Ubiratan Guimares, was initially sentenced to 632 years in prison for his mishandling of the rebellion and the subsequent massacre. 34/00, Case No. Wynn, who is serving a life sentence following a 2008 murder conviction, was permanently disabled after one of the attacks, his lawyers say. The control booth officer sees the fight, picks up a radio and makes a call. In January, police and prosecutors teamed up with the prisons new administrator, John Herring, to begin criminally charging inmates caught with weapons. Lanesboro Correctional Institution Lanesboro Correctional Institution is located in Polkton North Carolina. According to charges contained in the federal indictment, Blyther worked as a correctional officer at the Lanesboro Correctional Institution (LCI), since renamed Anson Correctional Institution, a state prison located in Polkton, North Carolina. Prison leaders say that when staff vacancies at a prison rise, they make adjustments, such as moving prisoners, reducing inmate programs and sending fewer staff members to special training. Officers sprint in behind Wall, cornering the three attackers. Surveillance videos and shanks hidden in the ceiling of a prison managers office raised questions about whether prison officials helped plan the attack or allowed it to happen. Attorneys for Vazquez said their client never told them what led to the fight. Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough. She earned an extra $36,500 in overtime that year, records show. Then he covers his mouth. Wall turns and looks directly into the room where Vazquez waits. Please enter valid email address to continue. It did not appear to be a normal prison relationship that a correctional officer should have with inmates, Underwood said. September 29, 2016 / 6:08 PM Many listings are from partners who compensate us, which may influence which ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. "When you don't have adequate staff to manage the inmates, and there's an incident, unfortunately people can get hurt and sometimes people even die," Webster said. [5] No policemen were injured. Human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch have also documented statistics of police violence and acquittals in Brazil. The FBI investigated the case. Several days after the incident police still had not arrested a suspect or determined a motive for the murder. Searches found numerous cellphones, improvised weapons and marijuana. Early on the morning of Nov. 15, 2013, Lanesboro had just four officers in the chow hall to oversee the 100 inmates who were there for breakfast, McCoy said. Prosecutors later dismissed the charge because of problems with the credibility of witnesses. Minutes before the Sept. 28, 2012, assault that killed Wesley Turner, two inmates involved visited the office of an assistant unit manager at the Anson County prison, State Bureau of Investigation agents say. The pay is low an average of the about $35,000 annually at maximum-security prisons and the work is dangerous and demanding. Another was criminally charged with bringing heroin to a prisoner. That works out to about one officer for every 29 inmates. Soon afterward, he contacted a Lanesboro employee, asking her to retrieve the contraband from the ceiling of his old office, his dismissal letter states. Officers often find that they may become targets outside of the work place for incidents that began inside the jails and prisons in which they work. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. News anchor Fred Shropshire is leaving Charlotte station WCNC. To cope with the shortages, many prisons have also paid hundreds of thousands each year for overtime. I characterize the lack of supervision there as, quite frankly, shocking, Roberts said. First published on September 29, 2016 / 6:08 PM. For almost two years, an Observer reporter exchanged letters with inmate Christopher Cook, who described what led to the attack that killed Turner.